The Pulse of the Pride

Lyme School Friends,

It is hard to believe that we have already arrived at our April vacation. The signs of spring have begun with flowers peeking out of the ground in front of the school and around our lion. Even though the weather has warmed up, it can still be cold in the morning. Mud season is also clearly upon us. Thanks for ensuring your children have what they need to go outside, as we do try to go out every day. Here is to a great spring!

This week, we had an all-school excursion to the Lebanon Opera House to see Dance of Hope. This show exposed our students to dancing and instruments from Uganda. Our community enjoyed a different scene and joined students from other schools in the Upper Valley at this performance. We would like to thank the PTO for supporting this adventure and exposure to art and culture.

Our students and staff have been working hard. Classrooms are active and students are engaged. As we return after break, we will be starting up our spring Track My Progress assessments and annual NHSAS assessments. These assessments will help us see how our students have grown since the winter and from last year to this year.

Please remember that the school is closed for April Break the 10th through the 14th.

The next newsletter will hit your inbox on April 21st. Have a great weekend and excellent April vacation!

Regards,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

4/10 - 4/14 - April Break/School Closed

4/28 - Middle School Activity Night @ 7PM

The School Board approved an academic calendar for next year on Thursday, 4/6. A change between this year and next will be that minimal days have been swapped out for parent/teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday only in the fall and spring with regular days the rest of those weeks.

Thank you for participating in the Haven Hygiene Collection

In lieu of recycling, the School is offering some old macbooks for sale. The pricing is based on the midpoint of the typical recent individual sales in the secondhand market (i.e. eBay, not a professional refurbisher.) Prices are non-negotiable. Power adapter is included. It will be factory-reset to a fresh installation of macOS 12 ("Monterey.")

MacBook Air 13" 2018 Intel i5 120GB SSD 8GB RAM -- 7 available – $325

MacBook Air 13" 2018 Intel i5 120GB SSD 8GB RAM(broken camera) -- 1 available – $250

MacBook Air 13" 2018 Intel i5 120GB SSD 8GB RAM(crack in lower screen case) – 1 available does not affect functionality.

The school tech team will not be able to offer you any support or repairs after you take ownership of the equipment. All items sold AS-IS. There is no warranty.

Please contact Dylan Gelineau at dgelineau@lymeschool.org if you are interested in purchasing.

Are you looking for a way to get some Spring chores checked off your list, and support the 7th grade class' efforts to fundraise for their 8th grade class trip? Kids for Hire is springing into action!

We are looking for individuals who would like to hire a small group (2-3) kids to do work. Yard work, wood stacking, cleaning, etc. A minimum work time of two hours is expected, and the rate is $12/hour/worker. Please no jobs that require the use of power tools. If you are interested you can contact me: Erika Breton at bretoner75@gmail.com Thank you!

Thank you so much for the beautiful breakfast on March 27th and the soups, salad, sandwiches, and baked goodies throughout the rest of week! You are such talented cooks and bakers! We appreciated the food so much! We are so lucky to have such supportive parents!!

With Full Bellies and Smiles On Our Faces,

The Lyme School Staff

For any parents interested in summer school programming with a focus on academics (reading, writing, math), please let the classroom teacher or myself know. The plan is to run summer programming during the month of July, 4 days a week (Monday - Thursday) from 8:00 AM - noon. The district is looking at offering programming using a few different grant opportunities which will allow us to serve as many students as possible. We will be sending out finalized details soon.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly and I'd be happy to discuss the programming.

Warmly, Geoff

Director of Student Services

Lyme School District

603-795-2125 ext. 106

The Lyme School Apparel Store has a variety of apparel and accessories all customizable with a variety of school logos. The Lyme School PTO earns 12% of all sales. Thank you for supporting our school and go Lions! #LYMESCHOOLROCKS

Kati Miller RN BSN: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

Matthew Greenway RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Celeste McCool RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Thank you for letting us know when your children are absent due to illness. If you are emailing Amanda Perry in the front office, you can also add nurse@lymeschool.org. If for some reason, you will not be at school on Monday after break, please do let us know!

Make tick checks a regular part of you and your child's nighttime routine.

The snow is melting, mud season has arrived and with it comes tick season in New Hampshire.

Ticks can carry Lyme Disease, a bacterial infection that is spread to humans by infected ticks.

Most common symptom: Circular rash around the tick bite appearing anywhere from 3-30 days after the bite.

• Other symptoms: Fever, headache, fatigue, joint pain and neurological problems.
• Prevent Complications: Early detection (tick checks) and diagnoses with blood test
• Treatment: Antibiotics
• Prevention: There is no vaccine available to prevent Lyme Disease. Doing daily tick checks of your body every time after being in wooded or grassy areas and quickly removing any ticks are the best ways to prevent infection.

Please remember when we return to school that if your child is experiencing symptoms, please test for COVID. If a person is not positive but has any symptoms, we kindly request a mask.

Thank you so much for your partnership in keeping us all healthy.

In this recent Parents article, there are 35 break activities and ideas for kids at home.

Returning to school after breaks can be hard for students. There are a number of different tips out there to help families ease that transition.

Return to bedtime routines early. Don't wait until Sunday. Start on Thursday or Friday to get students back into their routine.

Create a back to school countdown so students know how much time they have left and it does not come as a surprise that they have school tomorrow morning.

Discuss what is to come ie the routines or the activities after school so students know what is happening.

Give yourselves extra time on that first day back. No matter what, it just takes a bit longer to get going on that first morning.

And remember, validate your child's feelings! It is OK to be super happy and it is OK to be super unhappy to return to school. Having feelings is normal and especially young students are learning how to cope with those feelings.

This month grades 4-6 and grades 7-8 have the opportunity to vote for their favorite among the nominees for the Great Stone Face Award and the Isinglass Award. Voting is now live and will be open through the end of April. Links for voting were shared with students on Monday. Students can VOTE HERE for the Great Stone Face and here is a list of the nominees in our catalog if you are interested. Students can VOTE HERE for the Isinglass award and here is a list of the nominees if you are interested. Let me know if you have any questions!

Also, MANY new titles have been added to the collection and are available for check out from the Library Commons or Converse Free Library now or after break!

In the lower school, grades 2-4 are in various stages of research. The fourth grade has wrapped up their research of Alaska Native Culture with Mr. Dayno. They have spent a month taking a deep dive into many sources, including a virtual field trip to the Hood Museum and a virtual discussion with Ms. Amarok, a Native of Nome, Alaska, who is Iñupiaq. Students answered essential questions and their own questions that arose from the inquiry. You can view their presentations here.

The third grade recently finished their musher research to accompany learning about the Iditarod with Ms. Gautreau. A former race participant was a guest speaker who shared his experience and answered student questions.

The second grade is just beginning their research on climate zones/biomes with Ms. Clough. Students were introduced to pathfinders which will take them to curated sources to conduct their research. Students are generating questions about their biome and will dig into sources to find answers. Stay tuned as the project unfolds!

Our educational assistants participated in professional development opportunities during our recent parent conference week. In two sessions, Jen Wilcox, our reading interventionist, reviewed key practices aligned with the Science of Reading which our teachers use in teaching reading. Phonemic awareness and phonics rules, syllabification, and phonological games were discussed and modeled for our assistants. In another session, Kate Cook, our math interventionist, introduced and discussed number sense and its role in developing strong foundational math skills. Our educational assistants reinforce these important literacy and numeracy skills daily in the classrooms and it was great to have the opportunity to provide these mini-workshops to our assistants.

After the spring break, we begin our final round of Track My Progress testing in all grades. This short assessment helps us track individual and grade level progress in language arts and math. In May, we will be administering the New Hampshire Statewide Assessment. Grades 3-8 take state tests in language arts, writing, and math. Grades 5 and 8 also have a state science test. Results from the NH tests will be available through a parent portal. We will send more information regarding the parent portal and login instructions after testing.

Students in the Wood Works elective (aka Frugal Furniture), have been hard at work learning how to safely use a variety of tools to transform framing lumber into practical pieces of furniture, and other fun things. We started by working together to build a bench. They will soon be designing and building their own creations! They are taking their designs in lots of different directions and it's always fun to see what they will create!

This week we are celebrating hardwork in the Art room. 5th grade students have been practicing using the grid method to understand information in reference pictures. We looked at the work of the artist Chuck Close and heard him speak about how the grid was a way for him to understand the world and manage severe learning differences. The grid is a way that we can break information into manageable pieces.

This 5th grade group brings me beautiful drawings that they have made outside of the classroom, and I am so grateful that they are finding their own footing in the way that they see the world. I am glad that they know that the grid is a tool in the toolbox and that there are so many ways to express oneself through drawing. They are trying hard things, wrestling through some of the decisions, and persevering through the tough spots. The phrase “trust the process” suddenly popped up in our class the other day, and I had to smile…I am really proud of them!

April is International Guitar Month!

Students will use the next few weeks to: explore the guitar and its international equivalents from around the world, learn about various artists famous for their guitar playing, and listen to some great music!

When we return, Lower School will also start preparing for the May Pole/ Spring Concert that will happen in the second half of May. Details to come in the next newsletter!

Students in the primary grades have been working on several skills in PE. Through the skill of dribbling a ball with their hands, students have been concentrating on using their “eyes and hands as a team” or more commonly known as eye-hand coordination. Motor planning has also been incorporated by encouraging students to use the skill cues of “ yes, pads, push” which reinforces learning and trains the brain to sequence a series of skill sets. This allows for the body to adapt to the cues the brain is giving them so students can practice and eventually become proficient in various skill areas.

The students have been working hard as they always do and their effort is to be commended.

Students in Kindergarten and 3rd grade have taken a couple of salsa lessons during Spanish class over the past couple of weeks. Many thanks to our dance instructor - Fauve Dela Cruz! We all had a great time learning some of the basics of salsa dancing.

And a few more James & the Giant Peach photos courtesy of Mr. Novello. Thank you!

Bravo, students!

For more information about the Lyme School PTO, please check out our web page.

You can also join our Facebook Group: The Lyme School PTO

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Warmly,

Brigette Cameron

Lyme School PTO Secretary

Lyme School PTO Meeting Link:

Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/hqd-ixad-cri
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 407-545-7995‬ PIN: ‪522 319 072‬#

Will take place on May 10, 2023.

Topic: Lyme School Board Meeting

Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting

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Meeting ID: 945 5163 4224

Passcode: zrUr1R

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ALL Together has Elementary and Middle/High School Parent Handbooks available free of charge.

These handbooks are a practical guide for parents, guardians, and others who interact with youth and addresses today's toughest issues.

The Elementary edition: "Raising kids isn’t easy, start the journey off on the right foot. Cell phones, social media, anxiety and even issues with alcohol and drugs are starting earlier than ever. Learn how to set boundaries and keep your child safe."

The Middle/High School edition: "This edition of our Parent Handbook addresses some of the toughest issues affecting today’s parents and their teens. This resource will raise awareness immediately and educate readers on the latest trends, misconceptions and warning signs associated with each issue. This handbook is being used to help prevent issues such as addiction, violence and suicide across the United States."

Please fill out this form if you are interested in a FREE handbook.

OUR VALUES

● Fairness ● Acceptance of Others ● Integrity ● Responsibility

● Perseverance ● Individuality ● Compassion ● Courage

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Elise Foxall, Academic Director

Geoff Tomlinson, Student Services Director